I Just Want You By My Side
by arilovexo
Summary: Ross and Laura make a deal, she'll go to his album release party, if he goes to her once in a lifetime high school graduation. After he has to break the deal to be at a meeting for the release party, he decides to make it up to her in the only way he knows how. By surprising her. And all she wants is to not feel like she comes in second place to him anymore. Ross/Laura


_This is kinda angsty, but not really. It's really cute and I really like it and I secretly hope it happens in real life.  
__But we all know that's just wishful thinking. But yeah, anyway, enjoy this oneshot._

_Enjoy. I own nothing._

* * *

"Let's make a deal…" Ross lazily traced his finger along Laura's arm as they relaxed together on the couch in her dressing room. "I'll go to your high school graduation, because you know that's fucking amazing, and I wouldn't miss it, and you go to my album release party."

Laura lifted her head to look at him, "really? Was that even a question?"

He shrugged, "you didn't seem to into it when Rocky brought it up to you a few weeks ago."

Laura tried to think back on that moment and realized he was right. She opened her mouth to apologize but he shook his head.

"It's cool, you had finals, I totally understand." He assured her and then lay his head on top of hers. They were silent for a few moments, until Laura broke it.

"Deal." She whispered.

* * *

"Okay, so we have to go over some pre-album party things like what songs you guys are gonna play and how you want to introduce them to the world."

Ross lifted his head from the shiny table he had been staring at, furring his eyebrows in confusion.

"Is that even necessary? I mean, it's a release party, everyone will be hearing the songs on the loud speakers anyway."

Riker gave him a look that said, _be quiet_. He ignored it.

"When are we going to do this?"

"June 24th," Ryland said from across the room, "so a few weeks from now."

Ross' eyes widened and he shook his head, "no, no I can't do that."

"It's mandatory," Riker said, looking at him in disbelief.

"I don't care, I just can't make it that night. Any other night works, but that one, specifically won't work for me." Ross looked at Ryland, "come on dude, be on my side here."

"What's so important that's happening that day?"

"Laura's graduation high school graduation, I can't miss it," Ross responded.

"Is this to prove you two are like best friends or something? You aren't even a couple and you're already worried about what's she's going to think," Riker argued.

"I just can't miss it," Ross stated simply and looked at Ryland, "can you get it moved to a different day?"

Ryland shook his head, "that was the only day available, I'm sorry."

Ross sat back in his chair and began to pull an invisible string.

"If you can't be there then we'll have to cancel the party," One of the record execs stated and Ross looked up. "You're going to have to choose in between your career and this girl. I'm sorry, Ross."

Ross shook his head, "fine, I'll be there," He said quietly and lifted his eyes to see the look Rydel had on her face, shaking it off, he now had another issue.

How was he going to break the news to Laura that he wouldn't be at her graduation. Like he promised not only the other day, but when they were in school together. Since he had been homeschooled, his family had a "mock-graduation" as in he got his diploma in front of his family and his cast mates and Laura had attended that. She had said it was so important to her that she was there, even he said it was stupid and pointless.

She hadn't cared and now, he was going to do the last thing he wanted to do and let her down.

* * *

He didn't tell her right away and made his band promise not to say a word either. It had been a few weeks and all Laura had talked about was her upcoming graduation and how excited she was that he was going to be there. Raini and Calum were going to and she honestly couldn't have been happier about it.

"Laura?" Ross called her name hesitantly and she turned around, her eyes lit up and a huge bright smile on her face.

"Yeah?" She asked, but before he could say anything, she put her hand on top of his and squeezed it, "before you say anything, I just wanted to tell you that I'm so happy you're going to be at my graduation tomorrow. It really means a lot to me since you're always so busy and… I don't know. I feel so special."

He blinked, collecting his thoughts, and realized he couldn't say it to her. Not anymore.

"Y-yeah," He stammered, nodding his head. "I'm happy I'm going to be there too."

He lifted his eyes and caught Rydel's eye who just shook her head at him disapprovingly. He could see she was disappointed and he figured it was better to disappoint his sister rather than the girl he was maybe not so secretly in love with.

Laura giggled and turned around to talk to Raini and he realized he sort of still had the chance to tell her the truth, considering her graduation was going to be the next day he really had no choice.

With one last look at Rydel, he closed his eyes and then just said it.

"Except I'm not going to be there." He had said it quietly, but still loudly enough that Laura heard him, loud and clear. She paused her excited chatter with Raini and slowly turned to face him, a look of hurt on her face.

"What?" He saw tears in her eyes and instantly felt badly that he'd done it.

"Laura, I'm sorry, but I have something that day and I couldn't get out of it." He started to apologize. "It's for the release party and it's important that I go."

"More important than seeing me walk the stage and get my diploma? Like we promised each other three years ago?" He heard the hurt in her voice. It was clear.

"I'm sorry, but I have a responsibility to the band to—" Laura put her hand up to stop him.

"Everything is _always _about your fucking band, Ross. I'm not coming second to it anymore. I'm done." With that, she pushed passed him, storming off towards the dressing rooms. He watched her go, helpless and feeling shittier than he felt in a while.

But he wasn't going to let her get away that easily and quickly ran after her, stopping her from slamming her dressing room door just as she was going to slam it in his face.

"Go away Ross!" She yelled at him, " I _don't _want to talk to you."

"Too bad," He was still stronger than her and managed to push himself inside the room, it slamming shut behind him, but he ignored that. "We have to talk."

"Get a life," Laura snapped at him, and he saw the tears on her cheeks, watching for a moment as one of them slipped down and landed somewhere on her shirt. "You are the _last _person I want to see right now."

"Look, I know I hurt you because I made a promise and now I have to break it, but you know more than _anybody _how much I hate doing that. I just couldn't get out of it and it would be different if it was just me but it's not. Why can't you understand that?"

"And why can't you understand that this is a once in a lifetime thing and I wanted to share it with one of the most important people, if not the _most _important person in my life? I only graduate once and if you remember I went to yours!"

"Yeah, because it was on set in the classroom!" Ross argued.

"You thought it was so stupid, but I supported it." Laura's voice broke as she stepped away from it. "I went and I hugged you and congratulated you and gave you a teddy bear."

"What is this really about?" Ross demanded. "I'm getting the feeling it's not just about me missing your graduation."

"Did you just miss _everything _I just said? You are the most important person to me Ross and I wanted you there because with you everything is better! But like always, you put the damn band first and now I'm second again."

"I never said you were second," Ross argued back, "you just created that in your head."

"Are you _really _going to tell me that right now?" Laura yelled so loudly Ross had to back up a bit in fear of his ears hurting him later on. "You put fucking R5 first, before the show, that made you famous by the way and without it you wouldn't even be where you are, and your movie! It's all you fucking care about! You don't care about me! You never did!" She then started to hit him, her fists on his chest as she cried, he quickly caught her wrists and held them as she started to fight against him. He didn't let her go and she eventually stopped struggling, sinking to the ground and crying into her knees as he just followed her and held her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"You're not second best to me," He whispered in to her hair, softly kissing the side of her head. "You're not because I love you, Laura and I mean that. I'm in love with you and it's never stopped." She seemed to have heard him because after a few moments, she slowly lifted her head and looked at him. "I'm sorry," He whispered to her and then without another word, she stood up and opened the door, running out of it before he could do anything else.

* * *

"I'm going to that stupid meeting," Ross stated as soon as he got home, Rydel coming in behind him. He looked right at Riker and Ryland. "Laura hates me now, but that's totally fine, whatever the hell was best for the band, I did it. I hope you're happy." And without another word, he turned and went up the stairs, slamming the door hard behind him.

"What happened?" Rocky asked Rydel who just bit her lip and looked up the stairs before turning to face her brother again.

"I don't know," She answered. "But I do know that after he told Laura he couldn't go, she ran off and he went after her, then he came back about forty five minutes later and told me to take him home. He didn't say anything at all on the way back."

Ryland nodded. "It sucks he had to do that to Laura."

"Yeah, but it's his career, he didn't really have much a choice." Riker shrugged indifferently and Rydel just stared at him in disbelief for a moment, before shaking her head, but he spoke again before she could leave the room. "I just wish there was a way he could do both."

"Maybe he can," Ratliff spoke up for the first time. "If we change the meeting to early afternoon or the morning then he could still show up at her graduation."

"Think you can do that, Ryland?" Rocky asked and Rydel gave him a hopeful look. "I know it's last minute and all, but…"

"I'll see what I can do and try my best," He promised and a smile spread across Rydel's face as she ran to him and tackled him, laughing and then hugging Ratliff tightly, thanking him for his brilliant idea.

* * *

Ross stared up at the ceiling, pissed off and wanting to talk to someone, but he really wasn't in the mood to. The door the room opened and he lifted his head to see Riker walk in. Ross turned away from him, but Riker let out a sigh and then sat down on Ryland's bed.

"I came up to tell you that Ryland is going to talk to the label and see if he can work it out so you can still go to Laura's graduation." Riker told him and Ross didn't respond. "What happened today?" He asked quietly.

"I'm sure Rydel told you, she was there." Ross responded after a few seconds.

"She didn't tell us the whole story."

"I told Laura I wasn't going to be able to go to her graduation and she got pissed off at me and ran off. I went after her and we got into a huge fight, that's it."

"No it's not," Riker shook his head. "There's more to that you're not telling me."

Ross felt anger shoot through is body and abruptly turned to face him, "fine, you want to know what else happened?" He sat up on the bed and then stood up. "I told her I _love _her and she just left the room. She thinks she's second best to me and I wanted to make that clear she isn't so I told her how I felt, but like always she just brushed it off and ran away from the damn truth."

"Did you just say it to make a point?" Riker asked him.

"No, Riker, I love Laura okay? I'm _in _love with her and I have been probably since I met her, I don't know. I was a kid back then, I didn't know what love was, but I feel it whenever I'm around her and she didn't even react to it, unless you call the way she reacted to it today was like disgust or something." Ross sat down on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair as he let his head hang.

"I'm sorry man, that—I don't even know what to say." Riker sighed, "but I'm sure she was just scared, she'll come around and tell you she loves you back. She's still coming to the release party right?"

Ross shook his head, "I doubt it."

Riker stood up, preparing himself to leave so he could give Ross a minute alone to himself, but he left with one last thing that left a huge impression on Ross' mind.

"That's your problem, right there. You keep doubting things, maybe stop doing that and start believing in them." He shrugged, "you never know what might happen if you just take the chance."

* * *

Ryland had somehow managed to reschedule the meeting so that Ross could still make it to Laura's graduation. When Ross found out he at first didn't really react to it, but then thought of Riker's words the night before and ended up tackling his baby brother to the ground in gratitude.

So, with his ticket in hand, he drove all the way to Laura's high school, deciding it was best to just surprise her and parked his car, a few blocks away, but he didn't really care.

He knew that no one at the school was going to bother him as they were used to seeing Laura and knew he was on the show with her, so they pretty much treated him like a normal person. He showed the ticket to the security and he let him in.

His eyes searched for that familiar brown head of Laura's and he instead found Vanessa's familiar darker curls. He walked closer, noticing that Laura's back was to him and that Vanessa saw him first. He motioned for her to be quiet and she nodded, listening to Laura speak.

"This is so cool, like I'm so excited!" He could hear in her voice that she was just faking her enthusiasm but decided to focus on that later. He briefly wondered where Raini, Calum and her parents were, but again, decided to focus on that later.

"Yeah, Laura, we're all super proud of you." Vanessa smiled at her and then Ross decided that was the moment he was waiting for. He wrapped his arms around her waist and then leaned in closer to her, feeling her freeze in her spot.

"Surprise," He whispered and she turned around, her eyes wide and her mouth dropped open.

"You're—you, but you said—and yesterday and… what?" Laura blinked her eyes, confused. Ross couldn't help but laugh lightly at her confusion.

"Ryland managed to reschedule the meeting for this morning. I had to wake up super early, but it was worth it." He raised one hand and moved a strand of her curled hair, tucking it behind her ear. "I wouldn't miss this," He whispered. "I didn't want to."

"But yesterday—" She began, but Ross shook his head.

"We'll talk about that later," He said just as the announcement that all the graduates were to line up came on the intercom. He squeezed her waist and then took her hand in his. "Right now you have to go graduate and get your diploma. I'll still be here when it's over, I promise."

Laura couldn't help but feel so much love and warmth towards him and immediately hugged him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck as her fingers lightly pulled on his hair. She then broke it and stepped away, the tassel on her graduation camp getting in her vision. She looked up at it and then giggled as Ross laughed at her adorableness.

She took his hand again and stepped a bit further away from him, squealing in excitement when he intertwined their fingers and squeezed her hand.

"Okay, yeah, I should probably go, but… I… thank you so much, Ross." He noticed her voice had much more excitement and enthusiasm in it and smiled at her.

"My pleasure," His smile dropped and she laughed, "now go before they do something crazy like revoke your diploma or something."

"They wouldn't do that," Laura playfully rolled her eyes and then she leaned in and whispered something in his ear. "You're really hard to stay mad at you know, but… I really wanted to thank you again, you're amazing." She cutely bit her lip as she pulled back and then Ross squeezed her hand. "Okay, yeah, I should probably, yeah." Laura blushed as she let go of his hand and walked to where she needed to be, looking back at him one last time, before she took a deep breath and walked away.

"You are _so _in love with my sister," Vanessa cut through Ross' thoughts as she through an arm around his shoulders. "That's okay though, because if what you just did right now wasn't love, then I honestly don't know what it is. How romantic of you."

Ross smiled at her, but didn't say anything and Vanessa didn't need him to, to know that she knew what she said was right. They walked to their seats where they greeted Ellen and Damiano. Calum and Raini were already there and they lifted their heads to see him.

"Ross!" Raini hugged him happily. "You made it!"

"Yeah," Ross grinned, "you didn't think I was going to miss this, did you?"

"But I thought—" Raini began, but Calum put his hand on her shoulder to shush her.

"Glad to see you're here, bro." He said.

"I'm glad to be here," Ross smiled back and then the commencement started.

* * *

Ross watched her, with pride and happiness as her name was called. He wasn't sure who was screaming the loudest when he, Raini, Calum and her family stood up the clap for her, but he was pretty sure it was him. She had giggled her adorable giggle and then blushed, accepting the diploma before walking off the stage and back to her seat.

"And now, we'd like to have the valedictorian speech, everyone please welcome, Laura Marano to the podium." Everyone clapped for her and Ross watched in awe as she went back to where she had been standing just a half an hour before.

"Hi, everyone, I um, I had this whole speech planned out. I even drove my friends and my family nuts because I kept changing it every five minutes. But what I'm going to say today, right here, right now, is not something I can write. In the end, it's really about comes from your heart." Her eyes locked with Ross'. "One of my very best friends, he actually didn't know I was valedictorian and not because he's an inconsiderate jerk, but because I didn't tell him. I wanted it to be a surprise and I guess it was." She still kept eye contact, but broke it for a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath. "As all of you know, I am an actress and I play Ally on the Disney Channel show, _Austin and Ally,_" a few people cheered like crazy for that and she paused, smiling and then continued once it died down, "And when I was fifteen, I met three new, amazing and very different people. It was my first day on set and I didn't know anyone. It was a lot like going to a new school for the first time and being scared because you don't have any friends and you don't know if the person you meet is going to like or talk to you back. Well, the _Austin and Ally _set was a lot like high school, let me tell you that," a few people laughed, including Ross, and she smiled again. "But," She said, pausing again, "there was one person who really stuck out to me. He was blonde, for some reason he didn't have blue eyes like I pictured in my mind when I got more information about the show after I was told I got the part, and like most teenage boys, he had on sneakers, ripped skinny jeans, a plan white t-shirt and a leather jacket. To me he looked like a cross between a biker and a surfer, which is ironic because he later played a role in a movie where he had dressed like both of those things in it, and I had stereotyped him before I got to know him."

She took another deep breath before continuing, "since we were the two leads, we had to spend a lot of time together and during that time, he told me that he was from Colorado, so imagine my surprise when I heard that surfer boy was actually from a state where it snowed and was freezing cold every winter." Ross laughed at that. "One day, we were in school together and we were sort of goofing off, even though we were supposed to be doing our work, and he turned to me and said, _I don't care what happens, you and I are going to graduate and when you do, I will be there, clapping for you and hugging you when you get your diploma._ I had felt so honored and grateful that he would say that and I told him I'd do the same for him. So, guess what? He finished a year before me and though he was homeschooled, and I wasn't, we had a little ceremony on set with all his friends and family and he got his diploma. I was so proud of him then and I knew, he'd be the same for me when it was my turn. He was the boy who had taken this shy, insecure girl and made her into something different, someone who was more confident and I knew then that he was going to be special to me. For now and forever." A few people clapped and Ross joined them, smiling at her and she smiled back.

"The whole point of that story wasn't to tell you about my adventures on set, or who I met, it was more to tell you that there is always going to be someone out there who supports you and who will change you for the better. It doesn't matter if you're eighty or eighteen. The next step after this is university and that's a huge change. Change is hard and it's scary, but much like that fifteen year old girl who took a chance, auditioned for a role she wasn't sure she was going to get, and then stepped onto that set not knowing a single person, change is a good thing. It'll help you move forward and help you see that not everything is as it seems. I do plan to go to university after high school, I don't know when, but I know it wont be right away. But just remember this, no matter what happens, don't let anything get you don't. And most importantly, don't be afraid to take that chance and try something different. Thank you."

Laura got off the stage and everyone clapped and cheered for her. After a few moments, it quieted down and the principal came back to the podium.

"And now, I am proud to present…" She began as the graduates all switched their tassels from one side to the other, Ross finding Laura instantly and laughing at her squeal of excitement. "the graduating class of 2014!" Everyone jumped up and cheered for them and the graduates all threw their caps in the air.

Ross' eyes followed the caps, until he realized he couldn't see Laura anymore. He heard Raini say his name, but instead went to go see if he could find her, since the graduates and the families were all running to each other and hugging.

He was in the middle of the crowd when he soon found her. She had a huge smile on her face and immediately broke into a run. He did the same and caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her as she jumped up and he spun her around both of them laughing until he stopped and gently put her to the ground.

"That was some speech," He told her and she gave him a one shoulder shrug, the smile still on her face. He noticed she still had her cap on, so he moved the tassel over. "I'm very proud of you, high school graduate."

"Thanks," She giggled softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. It was silent for a few moments, as they just stared at each other. "Can I do something really stupid?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not going to be stupid."

"It's my graduation day so even if it is, you just have to let it slide."

"Like I said, I don't think it's going to be stupid." Ross repeated.

"If you say so," And then before Ross could come up with a response, Laura's lips were on his and he couldn't think clearly for a few moments, which was how long it took him to respond back.

They broke apart after a few seconds and Ross just stared at her, unable to speak, when they were interrupted by her family, coming to congratulate her, Raini and Calum doing the same.

She turned to Ross, "we'll talk later?" She asked and he nodded.

"Yeah," He said, "later sounds good."

* * *

Later never came.

Her parents and sister had taken her out to dinner and then she had a graduation party to go. He would have gone, but since he had to get up to prepare for the release party the next day, Laura told him to go home and that she wasn't mad at him for needing to get some rest.

To his surprise, she had come home pretty early. She sent him a text around eight thirty saying this and he realized that it was because she wasn't too much of a party girl to begin with.

"So, how did you surprise go?" Rydel asked, sitting down on the couch beside him.

"Pretty well, she was valedictorian, which to me is amazing because she had been so busy with work and I don't know, she's just… awesome."

Rydel smiled. "Is she coming tomorrow?"

He nodded, "most likely."

"And why's that?"

"Because…" Ross looked up at his sister and smiled, "we had a deal."

* * *

"Hey, Ross, there's someone here who wants to talk to you," Rocky said as he walked up to his brother who was soundchecking the guitar for the mini concert the band was going to perform.

"Yeah," Ratliff came up behind him. "She's a pretty hot babe too, you should probably go check it out."

"What?" Ross looked confused and put his guitar down. He walked backstage and found Laura standing there, a smile on her face. "Oh my god, you're here."

"We had a deal, didn't we?" She asked as she walked up to him. "You kept your end of it. It was only fair I keep mine."

"But you were so mad at me."

Laura shrugged, "I shouldn't have said what I said."

Ross rested his hands on her waist, "but you were right, I do do what I do, with you and I shouldn't. I'm sorry."

"Your band is important to you, I understand that."

"But _you're _more important to me, fuck the band."

"Hey!" Rocky yelled and they laughed.

Laura lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, she leaned her forehead against his and took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"Did you mean what you said?" She asked him a moment later.

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"About loving me." She opened her eyes then and looked right at him. He didn't even take a moment to collect his thoughts before nodding.

"Yeah, I meant every word of it." He whispered, "if doing what I did yesterday doesn't show that then I don't know what will." He thought of Vanessa's words the day before I thought it was pretty funny that he had somewhat repeated them.

It was silent between them.

"I was scared when you told me," Laura admitted. "I've never felt love like that before, let alone someone telling me they love me other than my parents and my sister and it was kind of terrifying."

"Yeah, it was even terrifying to say." Ross admitted, "but it's okay if you don't feel the same way, I understand. I wasn't expecting you to say it back, I just wanted you to know how I felt. Which was kind of-mmph."

Laura's lips were on his again and she pressed them more firmly than she had the day before, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. He instantly responded back, their tongues gently moving against each other's until they realized they had to breathe and broke apart.

Laura rested her forehead against Ross'. "You talk too much," she smiled up at him and he gave her a look, similar to the one had when he was Austin and Ally was just about to tell him she was going to stay on tour with him. She laughed inwardly at herself for even thinking of their characters in that moment.

Then, she spoke the eight words he wanted to hear from her for the rest of his life.

"I love you, Ross, always have, always will," She whispered and then they shared another passionate kiss.

"Ahem," They heard and broke apart to see Rocky was standing there, Ratliff beside him. "Sorry to interrupt your moment, because really it was beautiful," Ross turned and saw that Rydel, Riker, his parents, Vanessa, Maia, Calum and Raini had all witnessed it. The girls even had tears in their eyes. "But we've sort of got a show to play…" Rocky trailed off. "I really hope this doesn't become a habit."

"What, us kissing?"

"No, me interrupting you." Rocky answered and Laura burst into laughter. "You can kiss your girl later, I promise, okay?"

Ross nodded and then turned to Laura, "just one more?"

"Fine." She pretended like it was such a tough request and then laughed, shaking her head, she kissed him again. "Now, go kill it out there, I'll still be here when it's over, I promise." She repeated his words from the day before and he couldn't help but kiss her again, before breaking away from her and walking to the stage. "Oh and Ross?" She called.

He turned around.

"I love you."

He smiled, "I love you too." And with that he went onto the stage, the smile on his face never leaving and knowing that Laura's wasn't going anywhere either.

* * *

_I made Riker the homie for once.  
__And of course, Rocky's still the same as he is in all my stories. Don't judge me, or him. _

_I hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought, I love feedback :]  
_


End file.
